A Lonely Union
by BirdSpell
Summary: They were so often forgotten, it made sense they'd band together.


**I couldn't help it. These three are my babies; and as well as being an adorable ship, it evens out the numbers if you ship GerIta as well, so yeah. I like evening these things out. And this is written in the same style as Day and Night, at least at first, so it's kind of weird, but I enjoyed it.**

**Back side of the Axis is wonderful and adorable and awesome. Enough said.**

**Hetalia is… still not mine. *muttering* Seriously, do I have to do this every time?**

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Romano is a dick.

There is no word that describes him quite as well. He insults everyone and he's lazy and sloppy and never gets anything done, and he swears all the time and has never been as good as his little brother, who was the one Grandpa Rome really wanted, Germany cared about, Spain asked for…

Inferiority complexes are something he's grown used to over the years.

That doesn't mean he has to like them.

He was the first member of their little trio, back when Prussia was the Teutonic Knights and Japan was an unknown collection of islands on the far side of an ocean. He was the first one to be alone, in a way, since Prussia had allies and Japan still saw his myths at that time, the lucky bastard.

He was the first to spend hours in his room wondering why the world seemed to hate him, already knowing the answer but unwilling to admit it.

He wasn't the first to let his family go, but they all agree that if Japan was younger Romano would probably have him beat there as well.

Maybe he's the youngest of their little trio, but he and Prussia have never agreed on that.

(Actually, Japan's the youngest in a weird way, same as China, but they don't mention that.)

Romano's an asshole and a dick and a bastard and the whole world knows it. He's gotten used to that, enjoys it even, and spends his time with the mafia to hone his inherent viciousness. Even though being hated wasn't what he wanted when he was younger…

Well, he's not _hated_, exactly. More like… an irritating presence that no one appreciates having around. But he doesn't like them much either! No, none of them!

…Except Japan and Prussia.

And possibly Spain and Italy.

But half of those are family, so they don't really count.

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Prussia is annoying.

He has it down to an art form, really. He's learned, following many arrows and skillets and mugs of hot coffee to the head, exactly how far he can push any given nation before they snap. He knows when to stop, even if it doesn't seem like it at times.

He was the second to join their trio, during the chaos of the First World War when he was fading away and he could feel it, and his fear made him even more annoying until Germany snapped and shoved him away. Romano, however, stayed put. As he's only half of Italy, he knows that at any time one of them could fade, and that gave him a certain level of compassion for the Prussian.

Plus, he wanted to piss off Germany.

Prussia exists now only through Canada's goodwill, as a _micronation_, embarrassing as it is to admit. But it does beat being dead. So he tolerates the occasional ribbing from his various acquaintances. It's better than the alternative.

But back then, Germany was busy with Italy and Austria and Hungary were distracted by each other, and Prussia was all alone. Then Romano showed up and dragged him off to talk, and one thing led to another and they became casual friends.

Prussia is used to being yelled at, and Romano likes yelling. It seemed like the perfect friendship, even back then… but something was missing.

And Prussia had had far too much of things being missing.

So after the war—in the frantic time of rebuilding and reparations and far too many apologies until their pride was in tatters and Prussia was clinging frantically to life, because there really wasn't anything to keep him there anymore—their friendship faded away.

And Prussia adjusted.

He spent time with Germany and Italy and Austria and Hungary and France and Spain and kept himself busy, working hard in his own way to give himself something to focus on.

Now, though, there are three of them and he no longer worries about fading, because he knows the other two will never let that happen.

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Japan is silent.

No one ever knows what he's thinking, and that's how he likes it. He doesn't want them to know about the annoyance and bitterness and childish streak he keeps hidden away, in some dark corner of his mind, locked up so deep not even England's magic can pry it out.

He was the last to join the trio, in the early days of World War II, when he was just starting to realize that Germany and Italy, though they were great people, were more interested in each other than him.

Prussia found him after walking in on something he'd rather not have witnessed. He ran outside and found the elder nation perched in the branches of an old oak, light trills of music rising from the flute held to his lips.

Japan has always been beautiful, there's no denying it. And at that moment he was even more exquisite than he usually is.

So Prussia got to talking with him, and then Romano, having heard things he really, _really_ didn't want to, joined them. The three of them fell into an easy camaraderie, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Japan, then as well as now, is a private creature. He doesn't take well to being pressured, no matter what he lets America think. Romano and Prussia understand this, and they let him keep his secrets.

Well, mostly.

Japan is one of those people whose secrets tear them apart from the inside out. And Romano and Prussia know it. So they will push and push until he talks, no matter what. Japan knows they want to help him; instead of confusing them with his words as he does the others who push him, he allows them little glimpses into his world.

Japan loves his family, no matter what he pretends. So he does whatever he can to spend time with them, despite China's rampant childishness and Taiwan's crush—weird, Japan doesn't like her that way anyways and he's made that clear—and Hong Kong's insolence and South Korea's… well. Perversion comes to mind. But it's hard for them to deal with him, and for him to deal with them, and both of the others have lost count of the number of times he's called and asked to come over following the fallout from one of the East Asia family's many failed gatherings.

They're still his family, and they all try, there's no denying that. It just never seems to end well.

Japan has always had trouble with his friends; the fact that he keeps ending up facing them in battle can't help. Prussia and Romano, however, have never really fought him. Germany has, but Prussia stayed away from the East; he'd heard of their prowess in battle, and he did have some sense. So the three of them have nothing to fight about, historically speaking.

None of them are going to argue.

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The Back Side of the Axis was their first nickname.

It was America's idea; having noticed how the three of them happily stay behind Germany and Italy, he jokingly suggested that they were the backing trio. That just sounded horrible, but it changed to Back Side of the Axis and stuck like glue.

They didn't argue. It fit, really.

The three of them are the back support, happy to hold the star players up from behind the scenes. They don't need the spotlight; nor do they want it. They like staying out of sight.

But America, being America, found the name too long. Right after the Y2K panic, he began digging around for a new idea. Upon noting how they allowed themselves to be left out of the Axis' activities, sticking together at meetings, away from other nations, he came up with the Lonely Trio. Japan then suggested the Lonely Union, and the other two agreed. After all, Prussia has his precious BTT, and Japan is the unwilling third member of the Stray Trio, alongside America and England. The last thing they want is another nickname involving the word 'trio'.

The Lonely Union has been their name ever since, and they like it. It fits them.

At first, they were three friends enjoying the peace of being alone together. Friendship, however, slowly grew into something else. Something that scorched through the three of them until they couldn't hold it back anymore.

On New Year's, the three were happy to take full advantage of a certain custom involving kissing. And a somewhat less official custom involving a lot of alcohol and a very large hotel room.

During meetings, now, there's a certain protocol they follow.

"I think that we should create a giant hero to protect the earth from alien invasion!"

"I agree with America-san."

"Man up for once, Japan!"

"For once I agree with the cheese bastard. Come on, ninja bastard, tell us what you really think! Stop being such a pansy!" A light touch under the table belies the harshness of Romano's words.

"Don't be so mean, _fratello_."

"Shut up, you fucking _idiota_!"

"Play nice, Roma!" An arm wraps around their shoulders. "We're at a meeting!" Later, Prussia's body language suggests, you can be as downright _dickish_ as you like. Both of the smaller nations twitch in interest. Prussia snickers and returns to his seat, job done. Japan turns silently pleading eyes on Germany, who sighs in acquiescence.

"Let's just end this torture now. Dismissed!"

The younger German sighs and shakes his head, watching the Lonely Union wander off in the general direction of the hotel rooms. "Those three will be the death of me."

When the three of them are alone, the rules change.

"Lovi~?"

A sigh. "_Si_, Gil?"

"Do you know when Keeks is getting here? He promised he'd be here soon!"

A set of arms wrap around his neck. "Hello, Gil, Lovi!"

"Keeks!"

"It's about damn time, Kiki!"

Kiku laughs, bright and bell-like, pressing a kiss to the side of Gilbert's lips, then switching over to do the same for Lovino. "My boss kept me," he pouts, "otherwise I'd have been here sooner."

The Italian wraps an arm around his shoulders. "Well, at least you're here now."

The older nation smiles, curling up on the couch with a yawn. "Mmhm… What now?"

Prussia snickers, flopping on the couch and dragging Romano to sit beside him. "Well, what do you want to do?"

Kiku simply shrugs. "It was a long flight…" His voice trails off. Centuries of having politeness drilled into his head will not allow him to finish his sentence.

Lovino takes the hint. "Why don't we take a nap?"

Gilbert grins. "A nap as in…?"

"A nap," the other two reply.

And Gilbert's completely whipped, so he doesn't argue.

So the three of them curl up together on the king size bed and sleep, and when Germany knocks on the door to get them to the meeting they all silently agree to throw pillows over their ears and pretend not to hear.

Germany rolls his eyes and walks away, because he's whipped too, in a completely platonic sense.

No one questions their absence.

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It's a strange relationship they have, based mainly off a mutual dislike of being lonely and a flawless understanding of the others' characteristics and likes and dislikes. It's complicated and weird and utterly wonderful.

And despite the fact that some nations shoot them odd looks and a couple don't talk to them when the three of them are together and Hungary seems to be stalking them, they wouldn't change it for the world.

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**Aw, so cute.**

**Really, I want more Lonely Union on this site. Well, Lonely Union plus Romano, but I'll just call them the Lonely Union because it's shorter and sounds nicer.**

**I think Japan was drunk, high or both in that last bit…**

**In any case, if you ship this, it'd be very much appreciated if you'd write something for it, or draw something, or anything, really, because I don't want to just read my own fics.**

**Having shamelessly promoted the pairing, I will now beg reviews.**

**I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS.**

**See ya~!**

**-Bird**


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